TOWN OF ULSTER – The big box stores, in an effort to steal the early Christmas shopping glory, have outdone each other this season, launching their coveted Black Friday holiday shopping deals on Thursday evening – just after dinner.
Shoppers await mall opening on Thanksgiving night
Long lines formed outside Best Buy in Lake Katrine, which opened its doors at 5pm, closely followed by Target and Walmart at 6pm. Judging from the crowd, consumers did not seem to mind the inconvenience of cutting their family dinner short in order to save a buck.
Tom, one of the Walmart crowd control workers at the Kingston Walmart branch, described how he nearly got trampled down by the throngs who flooded the store after the sale officially began. He was pushed back against the wall, and inned there while waves of people rushed past him, anxious to grab one of the hot-ticket items.
While the Walmart staff enjoyed eight-hour shifts for their Thanksgiving holiday sacrifice, other chain store employees suffered the grueling 12-hour plus nightmare shifts which have come to epitomize the frenzy of shopping spree madness many people have grown to dread.
Target was all sold out of its sale specials within the hour, leaving many customers buying plush consolations, like a giant teddy bear selling for just ten dollars. At best Buy, the store remained filled to capacity throughout the evening, as an army of retail worker aggressively pitched bargains on computers and audio products, including the newfangled voice-activated automated home management systems.
Flat screen televisions, this year even bigger and cheaper, were some of the top items sought by shoppers, plus iPhone 7s, the latest and greatest offered with no money down, and digital watches which play musics via Bluetooth to wireless stereo speakers, sold separately.
In downtown Kingston, several stores also saw a bonanza of local business, including the all-night Dietz Stadium Diner, whose wait staff sacrificed family time for long shifts, to accommodate hungry shoppers who didn’t have time to cook their own dinner.
Meanwhile, local Chambers of Commerce throughout the region are urging people to buy local, spend a little bit more money to support smaller, family-oned businesses — many of whom give their employees the holidays off, keeping Black Friday closer to the weekens, and stomachs a chance to digest all that delicious turkey they just gobbled down.
Canadian anti-consumer environmental journal AdBusters took this message one step further, promoting the ultimate protest event, Buy Nothing Day, to millions of rebels throughout 60 countries. “Why not get your family together and do something wildly different. Ignore Black Friday,” AdBuster activists urged. “Try buying almost nothing for Christmas and you might experience the most joyous holiday season you’ve ever had. Buy nothing and experience everything.”
There were some major retailers that backed off this year from opening on Thanksgiving, including Sam’s Club, Staples and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
